Clarke clicking as playoffs near

It wasn’t long ago when Clarke’s bats were scuffling and it was tied for eighth place in the 10-team Nassau Conference 1 softball after losing a fifth consecutive game.

However, much like Calhoun, the Rams’ opponent Friday, did in 2022 to reach the Class A championship series, Clarke appears to be peaking at the right time.

Senior pitcher Emily Brown scattered three hits and struck out 15 in a dominant performance in the circle and helped her own cause with a run-scoring single in the bottom of the fifth inning as the Rams won their fifth straight, 2-0. Senior Olivia Wanser drove in the game’s first run in the third with a single, and junior Avika Mehta went 2-for-3 and scored both runs. Gianna Lucci, one of Calhoun’s 12 juniors, also went 2-for-3.

“This is the time of year when your bats need to be hot and your pitcher needs to be on a roll,” coach Rachel Barry said after Clarke improved to 8-7. “We lost five in a row in the middle of April simply because we didn’t hit,” she added. “We took advantage of some really good opportunities to practice and hit the reset button.”

The loss was the sixth in the last seven games for the Colts, who stand 6-8 in the conference and 7-9 overall. They feature a strong pitching tandem of juniors Johanna Esposito and Gianna Nicastro, an All-State right fielder (junior Gabriella Facciponti) and an All-County shortstop (junior Gia Pisicchio.)

“Every season has peaks and valleys and right now we’re in a valley,” Calhoun coach Michael Pisano said. “We moved up after winning Conference 2 last year and we’re competing with the best teams in the county every day. Adversity creates character and I’m confident we can hit a peak going into playoffs and make a run.”

As the Rams endured recently, the Colts are struggling offensively with three shutout losses over the past two weeks following Brown’s lights-out performance Friday. She struck out the side in the second, third, fourth and fifth innings and only allowed three runners in scoring position.

Pisicchio, freshman Ruth Small and junior Ashleigh Coyne are all hitting over .350. Nicastro (12) and Pisicchio (11) are Calhoun’s RBI leaders.

“We’ve had a big-time comeback,” Brown said. “We’ve beaten some teams we lost to earlier, so we’re much more positive. We’ve been putting in so much work and we know we have a chance against anyone.”

The Rams managed at least one hit in every inning and finished with 10.

“It’s nice we’re giving ourselves an opportunity to score every inning lately,” Barry said.

Clarke’s winning streak began April 26 when it defeated East Meadow, 5-4, in nine innings on senior Monica Dell’Olio’s walk-off RBI single that drove in junior Michelle Diaz, who had a three-run homer.

“East Meadow beat us in extra innings at their place the first time we met, so it was good to get the split and we’ve been feeding off that win,” Barry said.